


In Heart We'll Always Be

by Anzurel



Series: Long Live The King [1]
Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Tickling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-10
Updated: 2013-02-10
Packaged: 2017-11-28 19:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/678124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anzurel/pseuds/Anzurel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of three about the young years of the Durin brothers, Fili and Kili. To be continued.</p><p>Chapter 1) Kili gets bored waiting for Fili to wake up, and decides to wake him for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Heart We'll Always Be

**Author's Note:**

> I have the outline of a rather large project I'm working on at the moment. It begins with this series of three about the young years of the Durin brothers, to be followed by another series of three or four, a four chapter story of which the first two series have been leading up to, and a final two or three chapter story, possibly followed by an epilogue.
> 
> Your thoughts are very much obliged, as I am only recently getting back into writing. Thank you for your time in reading this.

Curious brown eyes peaked around the doorway, quickly growing hair slipping forwards past a narrow shoulder and swinging a bit to hang down towards the floor. Stubby fingers curled around the wood as restless, socked feet shuffled impatiently against the floor. 

Fili was supposed to be awake ages ago, but had yet to show his face this day. The sun was nearing its peak in the sky, and the wooden bench in the kitchen had been starting to get uncomfortable in his waiting. He would have sat longer still, not wanting to wake his brother, but even his mother seemed to grow tired of his lurking, pouting presence, and had decided to send him to wake the older child. 

Now, Kili wasn’t necessarily scared of his brother. He knew nothing bad could ever happen to him when he was with Fili, and that he would protect him from the deep puddles in the streets and the mean older dwarflings and the flying sparks in their uncle’s forge. And, when they got older, he would protect him from wolves and goblins and trolls and all other sorts of danger when they went on all their adventures! He was safe with his older brother, and nothing would convince him otherwise. 

That didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t a bit nervous about waking him. Fili did have a tendency to be a bit of a grump when he woke up in the mornings; especially if it was someone else that was waking him! He was almost as bad as uncle Thorin when one of the men in town made a comment about his height. Surely, though, this wouldn’t be as bad. It didn’t even count, really; it wasn’t even technically morning anymore! It should be perfectly safe.

Or at least he desperately hoped so. 

He took a slow, tentative step into the doorway, remembering to avoid that one patch of creaky floor just outside the room. Leaning forwards and up onto his tip-toes to try and see if he could see his brother in the bed, he let out a quiet huff as he could just make out the lumpy figure underneath the heavy quilt. 

How anyone could manage to sleep for so long would be forever a mystery to him. Though, maybe it’s just Fili that has managed to master the skill... He’d be sure to brag about it to the other children, later. 

He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest determinedly as he snuck into the room, making sure not to drag his feet although he knew that the other could sleep through nearly anything that wasn’t snoring. That was why they never let Thorin stay over in the spare room that was closest to theirs, instead shooing him into the far corner of the small house. He pondered for a moment if he had ever figured it out, but then shook his head in his silliness. Oh course uncle hadn’t found out; they’d been very discreet in the complaining to mother. 

Nearing the foot of the bed, he reached to curl his fingers around the top of the wooden footboard, pulling himself up on his toes again so he could just see the top of his brother’s head at the far end of the giant bed, his hair spread messily over his pillow and face. He took in a breath of air, puffing out his cheeks as he narrowed his eyes in thought. He needed a plan to wake up his brother without getting pushed off the bed for his trouble. 

His mouth twisted to the side a bit, brows furrowing and sinking down to the floor as he looked up the high edge of the bed before him. Human beds were such a bother. They were too big and too high up; he even had trouble getting onto his bed sometimes, and it was only a mattress on the floor! He didn’t know how Fili managed to get up there every night without falling... Maybe that was why he slept so late! Because he didn’t want to get out of bed after so much trouble! That must have been it, the lazy bum!

He nodded to himself, satisfied with his most recent discovery, and returned to the much more pressing matters of how he was supposed to get up to his brother. 

After much pondering, he had settled on one of his first ideas with a grin, running to get the stool in the kitchen that he stood on when helping his mother with something on the higher counters. He had smiled brightly at her, closing his eyes as his nose wrinkled a bit from showing too much teeth, which had effectively stopped her from questioning him, only tutting softly and returning to whatever it was mothers did. Probably coming up with a new list of scorns and punishments for later, he thought dejectedly. 

He abandoned the thought after a little while, though. He couldn’t afford to be distracted when there was an important matter at hand! Shuffling along down the hall slowly, arms wrapped tightly around the legs of the stool so as not to drop it, he slowly but surely made his way back to his sleeping brother. 

Arms full of wooden stool, he wasn’t able to hop over the creaky spot, managing to just the edge with a quiet, but nonetheless ominous sound that seemed to echo threateningly in the room. He held his breath in his cheeks again, eyes wide as he strained to see any sign of movement, letting it out only when there was no sign of his brother waking. Phew. 

He moved a bit quicker now in anticipation, not wanting Fili to wake up before he could execute his plan completely and thus embarrassing him. He put the stool to the edge of the bed, looking up with his lips pressed into a firm line in determination. 

Leaning over the top of the stool, he put all his weight on the far end, feet scrambling for purchase on the lowest cross bar as he hauled himself up; nearly falling face forwards into the floor in the struggle. It was a small but likewise great victory when he managed to stand atop it, placing his hands on his waist and closing his eyes for a moment to bask in his success. It was short lived, however, when he opened them again to find he still had an even higher climb to the very top of the mattress to manage. He frowned slightly, but set his jaw. Perhaps FIli would be proud of him for even managing to make it up there... 

The thought had him gripping for handfuls of quilt, kicking his legs out and pushing them against the side of the bed in a rush. He managed to get his torso up surprisingly fast, arms splayed out in front of him as he panted, legs dangling limply off the edge. Suddenly, he was extremely glad for the fact Fili always made sure to come to his room during storms and blizzards; he didn’t think he’d have been able to get up here when he was any younger than this.

Clambering up completely after a quick rest, he immediately found he was not jealous of Fili’s bed, for it was much less comfortable than his own. He seemed to sleep well on it, though, for he still hadn’t woken after all the movement. 

Kili crawled up to lay beside his brother, a tiny bit upset that his face was nearly entirely covered with his hair, but ultimately humming contentedly at the fact that it was easily fixed. He reached his head out to push the blond mess out of the way, hesitating when he felt a strange friction against his palm. He rubbed his hand over Fili’s cheek again, startled when he felt it again and hurriedly moved to get a closer look. 

Was that... Was that a beard?

A beard! His brother was growing a beard! It wasn’t much of one; only the start, really; but it was a beard! That meant he wasn’t far behind! A grin spread across his face, wiggling his other hand from underneath himself to rub at his own bare cheek, imagining his own beard there with wonder. 

He quickly shifted to his knees, shuffling over again and pushing Fili’s shoulder down so both were on the bed and he was lying on his back. Moving to straddle his chest, he gave a bit of a jump on his knees, effectively knocking the breath out of the older with his landing and waking him up with a gasp for air. He giggled lightly, a wide grin on his features as he stared down at his brother.

Fili stared up at him for a long moment, face blank and eyes tired. It didn’t really make sense considering how much he had slept, but no matter. The look in his eyes was a bit unsettling, and Kili found his smile fading, brows furrowing in concern. 

“Brother...?” He started uneasily, shifting his weight awkwardly on his brother’s chest as he didn’t receive any answer. “Mother said to wake you up... It’s almost mid-day...” Fili still did not react, only staring up at him indifferently.

He deflated a bit, shoulders sinking as he wrung his hands nervously as he thought. “Uhm... You...” He looked back to his brother, eyes widening a bit in hopefulness. “You’re beard is growing in, brother...” He watched as the elder’s brows furrowed in confusion, relaxing as he finally received recognition. He grinned as he watched his brother wrench a hand out from underneath the quilt and press it to his face, rubbing it upwards and then stilling, eyes widening.

“I... Have a beard...” The other’s voice was a bit raspy from sleep, but Kili could see the slow, amounting realization in his eyes and face, watching as he rubbed at his other cheek as well, almost in a trance. 

“Yes, brother.” He said happily, lifting a hand to his own cheek and rubbing at it gently with a wistful sigh. “Soon, I will have one, too! A big beard of my own.”

“And what a majestic beard it will be!” Fili exclaimed, grinning slowly, seemingly come to the conclusion that even his little brother waking him up could not ruin this day. He took his other hand from under the quilt as well, both reaching up to Kili’s waist and pinching at his sides. “Though not as gracious as mine, thank you!”

A sudden squeal left him, twisting under his brother’s hands and he laughed. “You will have the biggest and bestest beard of all dwarves! I bet it’ll be longer than even mister Balin’s! Down to your knees!”

“You just wait and see! Maybe I’ll even let you braid it for me...” Fili pondered aloud, clearly teasing as he didn’t cease in moving his fingers against the smaller one’s sides and belly.

Kili shrieked joyfully and wriggled incessantly under the attention of his brother’s hands. “F-Fili! Stop it!” He whined loudly, nearly falling over onto the bed.

“Alright.” Fili said simply, removing his hands and letting them flop down by his sides, head turning to look blankly at what seemed to be the wall. The younger took a moment to calm down, giggling breathlessly before quieting. He felt a strange sense of loss when his brother stopped, face contorting sadly as he looked down to his brother, squirming a bit on his chest. 

“Fili?”

“Yes, Kili?”

“You can... You can tickle me again, if you want...”

“Are you sure?”

A hummed affirmative was all it took, and two hands much bigger than his own already grabbed at his waist, pulling him down onto the bed with a shriek as he was pulled under the quilt, squirming and writhing and wriggling against his brother’s hands. A loud squeal left him when Fili blew raspberries on his tummy, rubbing his new, lightly stubbed cheeks along the soft skin, which had legs kicking out at the blankets.

It seemed like ages before they both calmed, lying next to each other in the bed with the occasional giggle escaping one of them after a few moments of silence. 

“If... I let you stay here, do you think you could let me go back to sleep?” Fili asked after a bit, turning his head to look at his younger brother curiously. 

Kili looked over at him too, suddenly indignant. “But today we were supposed to go to the river!”

Fili groaned quietly, pushing his hair back from his brow. “It’s too late at this point, brother. I promise we can go tomorrow, first thing in the morning, okay?” He said, looking hopeful. When Kili still looked unconvinced, he added a quick “I’ll tell you a story both tonight, and the next night. And come sleep in your bed with you like we used to. How’s that?” 

Then the smaller one was sold, hiding his grin in Fili’s shoulder as he quickly shifted over to him, curling up into his side and wrapping his arms around the elder’s chest. “I guess that would be okay,” He said as if he were doing Fili a great favour and not the other way around. He didn’t want it to seem as though the other only had to offer a story and he would do anything he wanted. “First thing in the morning, though.”

“Yes, of course,” Fili said with a light chuckle, wrapping an arm lightly around his brother in return, and Kili felt him smile when he rubbed the sides of their facess together to feel the friction on his cheek. “Sleep well, Kili.”

Kili hid a yawn, strangely tired all of a sudden. “You too, brother...” He said tiredly, falling gently to sleep with a smile on his face and gentle fingers curling into his hair.


End file.
